By Sama Marwan,
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Russian state atomic energy corporation “Rosatom” is ready to participate in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Vietnam. Additionally, it intends to continue working with Myanmar in the nuclear sector.
Lyudmila Vorobyova, Director of the Third Asian Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated in an interview with “Novosti,” as reported by “Russia Today” on Saturday, that Russia’s partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) show varying degrees of interest in establishing a nuclear energy sector.
She pointed out that “Rosatom” has made significant efforts in recent years to support Myanmar in developing its national nuclear infrastructure, training specialized personnel, and exchanging expertise in the use of nuclear technologies in both energy and non-energy fields, as well as in nuclear medicine.
She continued: “Thanks to the signing of a governmental agreement in early March of this year, a legal framework has been established to begin implementing a relevant project,” adding that “this is only the first step, and the Russian side is determined to continue its diligent and consistent work with our partners from Myanmar.”
During an official visit by Myanmar’s leadership to Russia earlier this month, a government agreement was signed between the two countries on the principles of cooperation in building a small nuclear power plant in Myanmar. “Rosatom” announced that the capacity of this plant would reach 110 megawatts, with the possibility of increasing it to 330 megawatts.
In January, the head of “Rosatom,” Alexey Likhachev, announced that Russia had offered Vietnam the construction of a modern and safe nuclear power plant based on two energy units and had begun working on updating agreements with Vietnam regarding the construction of a new nuclear plant.
There were previous agreements between Russia and Vietnam regarding the construction of the “Ninh Thuan-1” nuclear plant, reached in 2010. However, Vietnamese authorities decided in 2016 to abandon the construction of the energy units. Now, according to Likhachev, Hanoi has expressed its desire to return to the project.
